People Like Us
by Jael K
Summary: Lisa Snart can't imagine a universe in which a member of the Snart family gets a "happily ever after." She may, however, have to rethink those low expectations. This is set between "Welcome Home" and "A Cold Carol." Same 'verse as "If I Never."


This is set between "Welcome Home" and "A Cold Carol." Same 'verse as "If I Never." So it'd be awesome if you read those, too. :)

Figured I just had to show how Sara met Lisa.

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In their defense, it had been a late night.

Team Flash had requested their backup vs. the metahuman of the week, and neither had been inclined to decline. The resulting rousing battle had had the effect of rousing adrenaline and once they'd made it back to the apartment, neither had been even remotely inclined to _sleep_.

So even at noon, with years of experience and instincts behind them, they both take a fraction of a second to react when there's a scratch at the door.

Leonard manages it first. His eyes widen at the scratch, and narrow at the sound of a key in the door.

There are three other people with a key. One of them is in bed with him. One is on the Waverider ...and can't enter this timeline without him knowing. (And, frankly, probably isn't ever going to just let himself in to the apartment again, given what he'd accidentally walked in on once.)

Which means...

"Lenny! I know you're in here. I'm getting a cup of coffee. Get your ass out of bed."

Shit.

He meets Sara's wide eyes, mouths "my sister." He can feel the coiled-spring tension in her body relax, sees her lips quirk upward.

She's warned him a few times since their return that he should tell Lisa about her, about them, before just such an incident occurs. He'd known she was right, but it just didn't seem like a conversation to have over the telephone...

"Sweet! Lenny, since when do you have a Keurig?"

 _Since I started living with an assassin who gets_ _stabby_ _when she doesn't get her morning caffeine._

He sighs, rolls his eyes at the smirk on Sara's face, then rolls out of bed himself, reaching for sleep pants and a shirt. Sara also rises, poking around in the covers for her discarded clothing before giving up and turning to her dresser, a recent addition to the corner.

Lisa knows better than to come barging in on him, but he raises his voice anyway. "Be right out."

"Late night? Lazy, lazy, lazy." Well, at least she's in a good mood. The teasing note in her voice is a perfect tell.

Eventually, though, she's going to start noticing things. He's a little surprised she hasn't already.

He dresses quickly, then turns to Sara, shrugging his shoulders and looking toward the door, trying to convey without words a request that she let him start this off. She smiles back, a little ruefully, and nods, and he takes a deep breath and steps out of the bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack behind him.

Lisa is standing in the kitchen, steaming cup of coffee in her hand, staring at Sara's sneakers, which are still lying where she'd kicked them off next to the sofa, next to his own boots.

Ah.

"You brought someone else here," Lisa comments in a low, amazed tone.

He considers responses, goes with simply, "Yes."

Lisa's eyes fly to his, then to the mostly shut bedroom door.

"Is she still _here_? He? They? Jesus, it's only been about six weeks; what the hell's going on with you?"

"It's been rather longer than that, actually..." A month since they returned and Sara moved in. Nearly a year before that of seeing Sara sporadically when the Waverider returned (a portion of that as lovers). And before that, the five months on the Waverider together...memories he regained only a month ago. (Still layered, somehow, over other memories of that world in which he didn't go.) "It's complicated."

"Lenny..." Her voice is low. Dangerous. She sets down her coffee cup; he sees her hand snake to her pocket. "Do you need...help?"

It actually startles a bark of laughter out of him, his little sister trying to protect him. "No. Actually, I'm doing pretty well. Lisa..." He hesitates a long moment. But this is his baby sister, the person who was, until relatively recently, the only person he truly cared for. He needs to convince her. And she needs to know the truth. So he tells her. "...I'm happy."

Lisa just blinks at him. Then she does a slow spin, obviously taking in the other clues she'd missed before: the line of knives...never his weapon...on the windowsill, the white leather jacket tossed over a chair, the popular novel sitting on the end table (he's more of a nonfiction guy).

When she turns back to him, her eyes are wide. He just nods.

Then he clears his throat.

Sara picks up on the cue like they'd planned it, nudging the door open with her foot and strolling out into the room while still fastening a necklace around her throat. She exudes nonchalance, as well she should. She lives here too.

She's not prevaricating at all, and it's impossible to mistake her - how she moves, the gleam in her eyes - for anything other than what she is: a warrior.

Lisa can see it as well as he can and her face goes carefully neutral. But in the second before that, he sees the flicker of what might almost be respect. The Snart siblings appreciate fighters.

Sara extends her hand and meets Lisa's eyes. "Sara Lance," she says simply. "Pleased to finally meet you."

The other woman regards her a moment, then takes the offered hand, giving it a brief shake. There are still doubts behind her eyes, though.

"So how old _are_ you? Geez, are you even my age?"

Sara laughs. Leonard winces. He should have known Lisa would decide to pick at this one.

"Nope, not if we're going by linear time," Sara tells his sister cheerfully. "But I've had two extra birthdays thanks to time travel, so technically I'm slightly older."

And leave it to Sara to rip off that Band Aid.

Lisa is frowning. "Time travel? What, you mean like that crazy story you told me about where you thought Mick might have wandered off to? The nutty British guy?" She registers some small reaction on Sara's part. "You know Mick?"

Mick Rory, pyromaniac criminal. Mick Rory, teammate and Legend. Mick Rory, Time Master and hero.

"Mick Rory is one of my best friends," Sara tells her quietly. "I met him the same day I met your ... Len?"

As is usually the case when the two sets of memories he holds of early 2016 bump shoulders, he's working on a beauty of a headache. He forces his eyes open to look at the two women who are looking back at him with such concern.

"Sorry." His eyes flicker to Sara, who nods in sudden understanding and goes to grab a few painkillers and a glass of water. "Sis...this is going to sound ridiculous, but Mick and I both went on that mission. That's when I met Sara. But something happened..."

Lisa is shaking her head. "No, you didn't. You were really pissed off when he vanished, remember? You called off that museum job you'd been planning..." She stops mid-sentence, narrows her eyes at Sara...who rolls her own eyes as she hands over pills and water and watches as he takes them.

"Don't mind me. I know about the...family business."

Lisa's lips quirk, but Leonard interrupts her before she can start a new interrogation.

"Lisa, I DO remember. But I remember going, too." He takes a deep breath. "Because I did."

Her lips are a straight line. "This is ridiculous. You were here. I saw you. I talked to you. You were so pissed at Mick...you pulled at least one job outside the city..." She rounds on Sara. "I don't know what you're trying to pull, what you've done to him, but..."

He sees the coiled energy under Sara's surface, knows that Lisa can see it too. It's one of Sara's own tells, and she's upset. But Lisa has never been good at not pushing...

"Ask Ramon."

Both women look at him. Lisa's mouth has actually dropped open a little.

"Excuse me?"

"Talk to Cisco Ramon," he repeats. "Talk to the Flash. Ask them. They know what happened. They understand this time-travel stuff. We've been working with them."

If he wasn't so concerned about this whole thing, he'd almost find the look on her face amusing.

"And next time Mick's...in town...you can talk to him, too," he adds. "He's...changed."

Lisa shakes her head, an odd expression on her face. He can usually read his little sister like a book, but he can't right now. It bothers him more than he cares to admit.

She picks up the bag she'd dropped besides the front door, and continues to look at him with that odd expression, her hand on the doorknob.

"You've changed, too," she tells him sadly. "Everything's changed."

And then she's gone, out the door, and she's right. Everything's changed.

Sara puts her hand on his elbow, lightly, but doesn't say a word.

"You can say it," he tells her.

But the look in her eyes is sad. "No. I'm sorry that didn't go better. I should have let you wait to mention the time-travel thing."

"It had to happen. Better to get it out of the way." He's still staring at the door.

"She'll be back."

"Lisa's pretty stubborn."

"She's your sister. She loves you. She'll be back."

* * *

Of all the phone calls Cisco Ramon might have expected getting on a random Saturday afternoon...this was not one of them.

But he makes his excuses to Barry and Caitlin, and though he doesn't really think either of them believes him, they keep their peace.

They know he'll ask for help if he needs it.

Now, he just wonders if he's sure he _doesn't_.

He sidled into the dive bar with the nervous air of...well, a geek in a dive bar. He grins nervously at the bartender. The bartender does not look impressed.

But there she is, Lisa Snart, sitting alone at a booth, staring into what seems to be a cola with an expression on her face that on anyone else, he might have called heartbreak.

Steeling his nerve, he walks up and slides into the seat across from her. "Hello...Golden Glider."

She looks up, and her smile seems to be genuine...but it's gone quickly, and the sadness remains.

"Cisco. Thank you for coming. Want a beer?"

"Nah. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I'm more of a club soda guy."

She rolls her eyes. (An expression uncannily like a common one of her brother's.) He gets his club soda and they regard each other over the battered tabletop.

"Is it true?" she says, finally.

"Uh. Yeah. The new 'Ghostbusters' _is_ really good and a lot of people online _are_ just assholes."

She rolls her eyes, but at least she smiles again. "Idiot. I meant, about Lenny. That he's working with you...and all this time-travel stuff..."

"Uh. Um..."

"Cisco..."

He deflates. "I _told_ him to tell you himself, before you just found out. So did Sara. But your brother's a stubborn jackass, did you know that?"

She smirks, just a little. "Oddly enough, I did. But...you know this...Sara?"

"Uh, yeah!" His eyes light with enthusiasm. "She's the original...well. Um. She goes by 'White Canary," and she's a former member of the League of Assassins. And a former Star City vigilante. She was with your brother on this time-travel mission before it all got _really_ weird..."

His voice trails off as her eyes blaze at him.

"That's...true? You're not kidding?"

"I wouldn't kid about this! It's true. All of it. It's all true."

She can hear him evoking "The Force Awakens," but she's not diverted. "Why would Lenny do a damnfool thing like that?"

"I can't answer that, Lisa." Something about her expression makes his tone very gentle. "And…well, you'll have to ask him what happened to him. But he came back different. And, well, there's Sara."

She says something in a tone so low that he can't hear it. "Excuse me?"

"He says he's happy." She's looking into her drink again.

"I...think he is. They're sort of cute, really. Scary, sometimes, but cute."

"Lenny … that's not the sort of thing he _does_ , Cisco. I mean, there have been people, but…"

"Whoa, whoa, I do not need to know _this_ about Captain Cold. I mean, it's bad enough I can never use the STAR Labs shower again..."

"I don't want to know, do I?"

"Probably not." Greatly daring, he reaches over the table and puts his hand on hers. "Hey. What's really eating you?"

Lisa doesn't look at him, but she whispers something.

"Hmm?"

"I said, people like us don't get ' _happy_.' "

"People like you?"

Her mouth twists. "Crooks. The kids of crooks. Trash. Train wrecks. We don't get second chances. We don't get happily ever after."

The bitterness in her tone breaks his heart…and makes him want to go dig up Lewis Snart so he can… well, speak sternly at the man, at least. "You'll have to ask your brother about that 'second chances' thing. 'Cause it's not my story to tell, but he got a pretty big one."

"Yeah, but he _changed_. Apparently."

"And you can't? Or you don't want to?"

"No." A pause. "Yes. I…how can I? What would I do? I'm…me."

Cisco opens his mouth. Shuts it. They stare at each other for a long moment, and she looks away first.

"But he's OK?" she says, finally. "He's not brainwashed or something? He's himself?"

"Yeah. He's still a snarky asshole and a pain in Barry's ass on a regular basis, if that makes you feel any better. He's just not shooting at us, and sometimes he even helps."

"It does help, actually." Lisa smiles again. "That's Lenny. And this Sara…she actually lov..."

But she can't seem to get the word out. He finishes for her.

"Yeah. I think she loves him. I think he loves her too. Not that I'm an expert, or anything."

She laughs out loud at that. "I think you're more of one than I am. OK. I believe you. I'll talk to him. And I'll give her…Jesus, leave it to Lenny to hook up with an assassin…a chance."

"Lisa Snart, I am very glad to hear that."

She hears the sincerity in his voice and seems to be on the very verge of saying something else. But she doesn't, and after a moment, he rises.

"I gotta get back. Thanks for the drink."

"Thanks, Cisco."

He turns away. Pauses. Turns back.

"Lisa?"

She looks up from further contemplation of her beer.

"It doesn't have to be a crisis of some kind for you to call, OK? You can…just want to talk. Or get together for a drink or something."

This time, the smile really does touch her eyes. It transforms her.

"I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Leonard, as is common when he's preoccupied by something, has gone on one of his long rambles around Central City, checking his safe houses and presumably contemplating the universe. At this point, Sara knows enough to leave him be. He'll be back, and he'll talk when he's ready.

She does a bit of work in the tiny training studio they're setting up in the basement, then showers and leaves to pick up a few things at the local market. But when she gets back to the apartment, she can tell from halfway down the hallway that the door is the tiniest bit ajar.

Her steps slow.

It's only early evening. Anyone bent on making a real effort to take one or both of them out would not be so foolish as to leave the door open. Leonard might do that it he wanted her to hear something before breezing in, but the apartment is silent. So someone wants her to know they're there...

She puts two and two together, shrugs, and walks in the door.

Lisa Snart looks up from where she's sitting on the sofa, reading the novel Sara had left on the table earlier. "Hey."

OK. Sara can play it nonchalant. "Hey." She drops the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter. "Wasn't sure when we'd see you again."

Lisa sets the novel spine up and pages down on the table, something that would make her brother wince. "Don't you mean, if?"

"I knew you'd be back." Sara leans a hip against the counter. "You're his sister. You love him."

The other woman raises an eyebrow at something in the words. "Do you have a brother? A sister?"

"An older sister. Had."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Thanks. Me too."

They study each other in silence.

"So…do you really love my jerk brother?"

There's a challenge in the words…and, perhaps, something more poignant...but it's not hard to meet. "Yeah, I love your jerk brother. And I know you already know this, under the name-calling front, but there's a good man under all the snark and sarcasm. He saved my life more than once. Saved my soul. And since he saved our mission, I guess you could say he saved the world."

Lisa blinks, and Sara is halfway expecting some of the trademark Snart snark. But she doesn't get it. The other woman just shakes her head, slowly.

"I guess…I mean, he used to get so annoyed the Flash kept repeating that he should be a hero, you know?" She collects herself visibly. "So can you tell me more about this mission, or does he have to do that? How did you two get together? And what's Mick doing now, anyway? "

"Well…I guess I could tell you a little..."

* * *

The walk, around and around the city, checking on things, thinking things over, clears his head like it usually does. He'll give Lisa a few days to think things over, he decides, see if she cools down, then try again.

But when as Leonard starts to open the door to the apartment, he hears the murmur of female voices, both familiar, and stops mid-motion.

"So, then, we get back to the ship and there's a firefight going on."

"You're kidding. _How_ long were you gone?"

"An hour, hour and a half? Anyway, Mick sort of swings the car around …"

"I've seen him do that..."

"… and rams it right into the guy in armor and sends him flying. Funny about that, really … but anyway, Len and I climb out of the hair and your brother says, 'We go out for one lousy drink, and you guys somehow manage to pick a fight with Boba Fett!' "

He leans his forehead against the door in resignation, but there's a smile on his face. Then accepting his fate, for better or worse, he opens the door and walks in.

Sara and his sister are sitting, respectively, on one of the kitchen counter stools and on the sofa. Judging by the partially empty wine glass in front of each of them, this storytime has been going on for quite a while.

Both pairs of eyes turn to him, sparkling evilly. He sighs.

"This one's _way_ too good for you, Lenny," Lisa informs him. "I mean, she's actually _cool_ , and she's a badass, and she has a brain. How did you ever actually manage to even make a play?"

 _Maybe it's being on this ship, traveling through time.._.

"Guess she just fell for my innate charm," he drawls, looking at Sara, who smirks back at him. "Honestly, though, I'm really still not sure what she sees in me."

For a second, he sees something almost…soft…in Lisa's eyes. Sara shakes her head, gets up and crosses the room.

"Idiot," she murmurs to him, then grabs his coat collar and pulls his head down to kiss him soundly.

Lisa makes gagging noises, but glancing at her as Sara lets him go, he sees the grin on her face.

"All right, enough kissy face," she says. "Cisco was right, you're cute. Now, I'm starving; who wants dinner? It's even my treat."

"You talked to Ramon?"

He sees the studied nonchalance, eerily familiar, in her shrug. "It was your idea. He convinced me you were…you…and not some sort of a weird pod person brainstormed by a gorgeous blonde assassin. No offense, Sara."

"None taken."

"Ramon did that?" He may have to cut the kid a break for a while.

"Yeah, he said you were, and I quote, 'still a snarky asshole' and a pain in the ass."

Or not.

Sara grabs her coat. "Cisco's cute. Are you interested? You should totally ask him out."

"Sara!"

Lisa looks thoughtful. "Oh, I think there's definitely some potential there."

He sighs. Sara takes his arm, and grins. Lisa looks at them both with mingled amusement and that odd, soft look again.

Then she sighs, and smiles, and it's OK.

Things may not be back to normal. Or maybe they are. Maybe it's just that what's "normal" in their lives is changing. Broadening. Growing.

He can live with that.


End file.
